


adjacent

by en passant (corinthian)



Series: this time, a happy end [5]
Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-23 16:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6122065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corinthian/pseuds/en%20passant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a shocking appearance from a limited 5* servant, and adventures with time warps.</p>
            </blockquote>





	adjacent

**Author's Note:**

> someone take my hands away from me

Despite having defeated the Grand Caster and remedied the mayhem in London, the singularity still exists. Their Master draws them aside — just Robin and Siegfried — asks if they'll be up for a special mission. She apologies, too, for not having taken them out in a while.

"To be honest, I like to get to know everyone." She tugs on the hem of her new skirt and then nods, fists up in the air. "But you guys are still my old guard! I know you won't let me down. And I think we've got a time warp on our hands!"

"Think you might've misplaced your confidence, Master~" Robin hums, "But looks like we're free."

"It would be an honor," Siegfried doesn't elbow Robin, but his words are admonishing enough. The idleness has been harder on Siegfried than Robin — they've talked about it, briefly. Robin jokes that a little downtime isn't bad; he knows that eventually, again, he'll yearn for a quiet, peaceful place. But they both know that Siegfried, who wishes to continue fighting for justice to the very end, needs more than that. 

Siegfried doesn't know of Robin's secret wish. He knows that they share a concern for the future, for their comrades and their Master and that in any fight, Robin would wish to see the just side persevere. It seems very simple.

"Who else is joining our merry little band?" Robin asks as they prepared to head out. He Master smiles, broadly, cheerfully even. She holds up the hand of their third party member, the one she's brought along for support. An Archer, dressed in white and trying to look both properly gracious to be in the company of their Master and yet annoyed at the same time.

"This is Arjuna!" Their Master beams, "I'm borrowing him for a little while, I'm sure we'll all get along."

"It's a pleasure, I hope that I can be of assistance." Arjuna introduces himself. The air temperature drops about two degrees, despite the serene expression on his face.

"Ahh, what bad news. . ." Robin mutters. "All right, all right! Welcome to the team, temporarily."

"We're counting you as well." Siegfried is far more kind. He doesn't notice the slight twitch in Arjuna's cheek.

"Then, shall we?" Arjuna asks. Robin laughs, just a little. It's normally the Master's job to direct the party, after all. But their Master doesn't seem to mind, she agrees, drags Arjuna forward chatting excitedly about how she hopes he'll choose to stay with them for a while. She would love him to be a part of their main party sometime.

Even Siegfried notices the slight crack in Arjuna's polite facade, then.

"He won't be sticking around, huh." Robin comments, as he brings up the rear; Arjuna in the front, Siegfried in the middle and Robin at the end.

"It seems unlikely." Siegfried agrees. "Or, he's simply shy."

Robin snorts. "Looking for the best at the bottom of the barrel doesn't always yield the best results."

"Shouldn't you be saying that's where I found you?" 

"Hey! Hey! No surprise attacks!" Robin covers his face with one hand, but that doesn't hide all of his embarrassed grin, or the way he looks to the side. "That one hurts."

In unison, they both say _Sorry_ — they both know each other's habits too well, by now. Siegfried is intimate with Robin's self-deprecation, enough to be comfortable with it. He understands that it isn't always wallowing, but sometimes a way for Robin to stand up a little taller, propped up by his own words that lighten the burden of expectation for himself.

And Siegfried always apologizes.

"Let's call this one a draw." Siegfried offers.

In front of them, Arjuna has turned just slightly to look back. Robin can't help himself.

"Lonely?" He asks.

Arjuna stands a little straighter, he's taller than Robin. The all white of his clothes, high fastened collar of his shirt and his long sleeves make him seem unreal, in a way. More like a stern apparition than a man — which is appropriate really. They are Servants, after all.

But he's still shorter than Siegfried. For the moment when all three of them are squared to each other, in a mild stand-off that they don't quite understand, Robin thinks he may have pushed too hard (unknowingly).

"Arjuna wouldn't be lonely if he joined us," their Master breaks in, wheedling.

Arjuna turns to her and smiles. It's such a thin smile that it barely changes his face, but some kind of emotion shows in his eyes. "Ah, perhaps in the future I will. Certainly it would benefit you to add me to your roster and I don't find you disagreeable."

Robin rolls his eyes, but he falls back into line at Siegfried's back as they head down, back to London — or more accurately, back to England, the wooded land outside the city.

* * *

England is damp and smells of old wood. It's not familiar to Siegfried — a little too far West, a little too new and the London smog must have rolled out into the forest as well. Beside him, though, Robin's smile turns wry.

". . . how nostalgic." He says, but that's all. They catch up to their Master and Arjuna, walk further into the woods.

"Keep your eyes open! It has to be around here somewhere."

". . . what exactly are we looking for?" Arjuna asks, delicately.

Their Master turns to waggle a finger at him. "Anything that looks out of the ordinary! If you want to join my team, you'll have to be more observant than that."

"I'll keep that in mind." Arjuna's dry tone doesn't deter her at all. So much so that when they decide to split up — she decides they should split up — she goes off with Arjuna. Robin and Siegfried also part ways, the plan is they'll reconvene at the same spot in two hours.

"No fighting anything big and scary, got it? This is just info gathering!" She admonishes them, all of them. 

"Got it, got it! Run away, my favorite thing." Robin waves and then seems to disappear into the trees. He doesn't leave any trace, not even the sound of footfalls. It's eerie.

"I'll be careful, Master. I hope you will also be careful." Siegfried is less discreet. 

"Oh, don't worry! I have Arjuna with me." She flaps her hand at him. "See you soon, Siegfried!"

He watches them head down through the trees before he also moves deeper into the woods. He's keenly aware of his armor, the foliage, how his feet seem to snap every single branch on the ground. He's loud and incredibly ungraceful. It makes him think of Robin, in contrast, who must be moving swiftly and silently through the woods as if he were born there.

Siegfried traveled to a great many places in his past. The forest, the caves, the bloodbath and battlefield. He takes note of where he's been because he doesn't know when he'll be back. He didn't always travel with such care and he didn't always consider others as much as he should have.

It's an odd paradox. Deciding to live for his own ideal of justice but also without regrets, so that includes his actions toward others. Siegfried remembers the many regrets he had during life but also knows he would make the same decisions all over again. He doesn't know how to support people half-heartedly.

The woods are a little foreboding, and more than that, Siegfried can hear whispers. He would not have heard them, during the time when he was alive, but since is a Heroic Spirit — the voices of the trees and the nature spirits make themselves known to him.

What catches his attention, though, is a fairy the color of a bright, blue bird, saying: _Tell Robin! Quickly!_

Siegfried follows that one, he notices that it never races too far ahead of him, instead bobbing and meandering like a lantern. He doesn't notice the loop of rope, only hastily hidden under some leaves until after he steps into it.

"Got ya!" A surprisingly young voice calls out and the loop closes around Siegfried's leg. He can hear the sound of something heavy, probably logs, falling and feels the tug of the rope on his ankle. Unfortunately, his weight and strength was far, far, far greater than the snare trap's counterweight.

". . . sorry," Siegfried says, and leans down to undo the snare around his ankle. When he looks up again he's faced with a very familiar face.

"What are you doing in _my_ woods?" It's Robin. A much younger Robin wearing a scowl, holding it up between them like a shield. Something about him seems wild, even though he's dressed in familiar green and his clothes are a little too big for him. By all means, he should seem like just another kid playing dress-up in his father's cloak. But the fairies that had been drifting around aimlessly gather and perch on him — his shoulders, peeking around his quiver, hovering just behind his elbow.

If Siegfried were still mortal and far less tolerant, he would have found the sight unsettling.

"I was looking for something." Siegfried finds it difficult to say much. Everything he knows about Robin seems suddenly inapplicable.

"You're not from around here." Robin jerks his chin at Siegfried. "Nobody comes through here like you."

Siegfried can read the suspicion easily enough. He wonders how often Robin stops people, can easily picture this kid — he can't be that old, the jagged hem on the bottom of the cloak tells Siegfried it was cut, probably by small clumsy hands to better suit his height — nosing into everyone's business who came by. Either threatening like this or trying to fit in, blend in, make sure whoever was entering 'his' woods wasn't up to any ill will. It makes him smile, a little.

"Sorry," he says again. "You're right. But I'm here to help."

"Yeah, right." Robin's guard doesn't lower. Siegfried doesn't expect it to. Maybe it's because he knows the older Robin so well, but it's not hard for Siegfried to see the petulance behind Robin's glare. "If you're just visiting someone you should say so. Trying to look cool in front of me is stupid. I don't buy into that whole knightly shit. Save it for someone who cares."

". . . I'm lost," Siegfried tries again.

Robin sighs, shakes his head and gives Siegfried a cocky grin. It looks more at home on his face than his earlier scowl. "Shoulda said so earlier! If you keep going that way, there's the marsh. Won't be fun there, but the village is just this way." He starts moving. He isn't following a path that Siegfried can see, but they weave through the trees and around brambles. Robin knows the woods, he finds them the best way through.

"Here," Robin points to the edge of a village. A woman is hanging laundry, people are going about their daily lives. It's as if this is a real village instead of an echo. (It's a pocket of time, it will cease to exist when he leaves, but if left to grow and propagate it will consume the entirety of the universe. In a way, it is an existence that only was created to be extinguished.) "You'll fit right in."

"Thank you," Siegfried searches for the words. "I appreciate your help."

"Shut up! Didn't do anything, keep your stupid thanks to yourself." Robin yells back, immediately. But his voice is too loud and his face is a little red. Siegfried can tell that he's emarrassed.

"Sorry, but I am thankful to you." Siegfried repeats himself, makes sure Robin hears it. He gets the impression that this Robin doesn't hear gratitude very often. And his suspicions are confirmed when the woman hanging laundry throws a rock at them — at Robin in particular.

Then, a second rock. "Get out of here!" She shrieks. "Take your curses and fae elsewhere!"

The third rock, Siegfried intercepts. He should have caught the other two as well, but he had assumed the first had been for himself, and then hadn't understood. There weren't any threats. Just himself and Robin.

For a moment Robin looks his age, young and unhappy. Then he sticks his tongue out and shouts back, "A curse on you and your goat!" 

"Wait — " Siegfried isn't quick enough, however. Robin is fast and agile and within moments is up the trunk of a tree and then he disappears into the foliage. He can only turn back to the village, and demand answers. "Why were you doing that?"

"His kind isn't welcome here."

"He's — just a kid." It feels strange to talk about Robin this way, as if he's betraying him. Siegfried knows he's seen something Robin would have preferred he not.

"Tell that to the sick, the dying and the unlucky. The fae children do nothing but bring misfortune."

He wants to argue with her, but this isn't what he came for and there are some things that can't be argued. It isn't as though Siegfried has an all-accepting personality, but he's someone who chooses righteous action. He goes after Robin.

* * *

He acted to aid a friend, a brother, a comrade in arms. In the past, Siegfried did what he thought was proper, but the end result had been his death. He didn't even regret dying.

He regretted being a part of someone's treachery and of not following his own path.

A dying wish that sounded much like, next time it will be different.

* * *

"Looks like we all came up empty handed." Robin sighs, stretches, cracks his back. Siegfried watches him, he wants to say something but with their Master and Arjuna upon them again as well, it's best left for later.

"But something's still off. . . isn't it?" Their Master frowns. "I thought we would have done everything we'd need to open a secret door if there was one."

"Yes, I quite agree." Arjuna's short reply seems to indicate that they spent some time looking for a hidden passage.

"Well, if that's it then maybe we should all head back — " Robin is in the middle of saying when a shrill noise pierces the air. It's like an off-tune hunting horn.

". . . there it is, Master." Siegfried points out. A shadowed rider on a black horse approaches them, blowing on their hunter's horn. Hunting dogs run along side it.

"Really? Can't I get a break," Robin mutters. Siegfried is certain that only he overhears that comment, because he's watching the way Robin's smile tightens at the corners. "Hey, borrowed Archer. Are you ready for a fight?"

"At your Master's orders." Arjuna replies.

"I'm ready as well," Siegfried reassures. Robin pats him on the shoulder, it's almost condescending, except for the way he bows his head between them, a moment of privacy. 

"This has been a long day," Robin says.

"Sorry, it's almost over." Siegfried replies, and the battle is upon them.

(The monster called betrayal would take the form of a dark rider, Siegfried has often thought. An apparition that follows, hunts and tries to drag one down. Betrayal always comes with regrets, after all.)

The rider is not a difficult enemy. A mounted messenger of a king, perhaps, but clothed in darkness. The hunting dogs are warped and filled with malice, but also easily dispatched. It's Arjuna's bow that defeats the rider, a brilliant blue arrow that cleaves the sword in half and buries deep into the dark body. But as the rider fades they face a new enemy.

Not quite an archer, not quite an assassin, but something of a mix. Siegfried recognizes who their enemy is, even before Robin does.

"Hey, no hard feelings." The shadowed archer says, with Robin's voice. He gestures, sardonic and dark violet drips from his fingertips — the color of old blood mixed with poison. "But fool me once, shame on me and fool me twice. . . well, you know how it goes, right?"

"Ah, your regrets, I assume." Arjuna comments mildly.

Robin's smile looks like it's about to break, before he laughs. "Regrets? If we're here, in this place again, then it's hardly regrets. This is just baggage I left behind. Let's clean up the mess, Master!"

It's easy to fall into step with Robin. Siegfried stands just to his left. In a forest, Robin would have the advantage but since they're exposed and he doesn't carry a shield, Siegfried always sees it fit to stand on his weak side. Robin has never commented on that, not in the battles across the French plains, the wide streets of Rome or back sewers of London.

But this time Robin's left hand reaches back, just briefly, to clasp Siegfried's.

"All right! This must be it." Their Master cheers, steps up between Robin and Siegfried just long enough to throw her arms around both of them. "Game plan is the same as always, let's wreck 'im!"

"Your enthusiasm is giving me a headache." Robin mock groans, but Siegfried thinks, he must be glad for her support as well.

It's a long fight. The shadowed version of Robin talks the entire time as well, but most of it seems ridiculous to Siegfried. ("There wasn't any real point in defending them anyway, was there?" "Running would have suited you better, the coward that you are." "Did you want to be thanked for what you did? What a petty desire." "There wasn't a calm place waiting for you to die at, in the end, anyway.") Those were the kind of thoughts he is certain that Robin doesn't have.

Siegfried has never been on the receiving end of Robin's poisonous tree before. It feels as though he's being crushed alive, the roots and branches of the tree growing and swelling under his skin and then bursting and leaving behind a burning pain.

"It's my turn to apologize, huh?" Robin says to him. Arjuna lets off another barrage of arrows. Their Master calls up her magic to bolster Robin's own retaliatory attack and then also, to purge the poison from Siegfried.

The end feels anticlimactic. Robin's third Noble Phantasm rips through the shadowed archer, and then it just vanishes. It leaves behind nothing, much to their Master's disappointment. Siegfried feels drained, but Robin looks even more tired than he is.

". . . well, that probably solved that." Robin comments.

"Mmmhmm! I'll check in with the Doctor, but I think so!" Their Master dusts her hands off and grabs Arjuna by the wrist. "We'll be heading back, we'll meet you there, Siegfried, Robin!" As she heads back they can hear her making one more plea — _Arjuna, please join us!_

"Do you think she'll wear him down?" Robin asks. He seats himself on the ground, sighing. "She certainly wears _me_ down. What a personality."

". . . are you all right?" Siegfried sits next to him.

Robin shuts his eyes. Then looks down at the ground, "Hey, turn around, I'm not up to facing you right now." It's a big admission for him and rare request. Siegfried turns, so his back is to Robin, with no questions asked. "I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine." Siegfried replies quickly. 

"I died here." Robin says, after a moment of silence. "In those woods, just down the path. Near where we entered. At the time I was thinking, what rotten luck, this is so uncomfortable." He laughs. Then Siegfried can feel him lean against him. They're back to back and it's an odd sensation for Siegfried — he's used to Robin's presence, used to Robin watching his back and even touching it. But to feel his warm weight against his weakest point, it's unusual. They're both vulnerable, in this moment, it feels.

"I'm sorry —" Siegfried starts.

"Honestly, you need to stop that." Robin groans and forces himself to keep going, "I really liked it here. The people. . . weren't so bad, there's a little village just down the way, that was almost like home. They just got scared, and it was convenient."

"I met — " he doesn't know how to phrase it. "I think I saw something, a piece of your past."

"Ahhhhh, I was hoping you wouldn't say that. I did too, I wonder what our borrowed Archer and Master saw? Hopefully nothing too embarrassing. Can't have her thinking I'll go soft on her!" Robin rolls his shoulders. "But it's true, too, that I was mad at them."

"They betrayed you." Siegfried supplies.

"No," Robin's reply is quick. ". . . like I said, it was convenient. I'm not stupid, they didn't have much of a choice. The big guy on the hill wouldn't take no for an answer and it wasn't as if the high nobles or so-called knights were going to do anything. I took that on myself, my responsibility and my consequences."

"You shouldn't have to defend them." Siegfried wants to defend Robin against himself, but he can tell it's not a fight he'll win. Robin, who so rarely wants to speak of virtue or sacrifice, doesn't budge easily once he does.

"I was mad at them, for not stepping up even though I knew they couldn't." Robin's voice grows quiet. ". . . but mostly, I didn't want to die alone, on a battlefield."

Siegfried understands all at once, the words of the shadow archer and of Robin, and what he saw in the woods. He turns around, again, but this time to pull Robin into a tight embrace.

"Woah — wait — " Robin's token protests are weak, even for him. "Don't get all mushy, we still need to head home."

"We can head home soon." Siegfried agrees, but he doesn't let go. Not even when Robin relaxes and buries his face in Siegfried's shoulder with a half-exasperated, half-relieved sigh.

"Honestly, you're unfair." Robin accuses, voice muffled.

"I didn't even do anything," Siegfried replies.

"I know! That's the worst part!" 

Siegfried doesn't reply to that. They take another handful of moments. Robin savors the quiet and the calm, the warm comfort of being held before he easily untangles himself and stands.

"Let's go home." 

"Home together." Siegfried adds, a bit unnecessarily, but Robin seems to appreciate the sentiment.

"It's not like I'm going to leave you here, so unless you had plans to ditch me —"

"Robin."

"— which would be really out of character for you. I bet you catch mosquitoes and put them back outside gently —"

"Robin."

"— . . . all right, what?" Robin stops talking, faces Siegfried and looks him in the eye. He's letting Siegfried make the moment serious again, even though he's more comfortable laughing it off.

"Standing shoulder to shoulder with you gives me great pride and joy."

Robin stares at him, his expression one of rare bafflement that goes beyond his normal shy reaction. At a loss for words, Robin sputters before finally squeaking out. ". . . I think you're a bit tall for that. . ."

(But, in the corridors of Chaldea, privately and far belatedly, Robin adds: "I'm glad, as well.")


End file.
